This Wonderful 8 Places are Europe’s Best Winter Getaways

1. Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland

Jutting west into the North Atlantic Ocean, the Snæfellsnes peninsula is Iceland at its most beautiful: moss-blanketed lava fields, cloudy fjords encompassed by craggy cliffs, and a towering volcano crowned with a glacier that dates back to the Ice Age. Do it as a road trip, beginning with a night at the Hotel Egilsen, in the small fishing town of Stykkisholmur. The motel’s 10 comfortable rooms have a New England vibe, designed as they are in light blues and greens, and unique sketches of neighborhood landmarks of interest by Icelandic artist Tolli line the walls.

2. Alpe di Siusi, Dolomites

Most guests who go to the jagged, skyscraping peaks of northeastern Italy stay at a conventional lodging in the Badia Valley. Be that as it may, Adler Mountain Lodge is tricking more outline slanted skiers to the lesser-known Alpe di Siusi area toward the west. The primary building has 18 rooms, with spare pinewood insides, floor-to-ceiling windows, and stylistic theme motivated by the proprietors’ outings to Africa—a command hierarchy here, a cut wooden eagle there. You’ll likewise discover 12 staggering terraced villas taking after ancient Tyrolean cabins.

3. Åre, Sweden

With its snow-covered peaks, café-lined town square, and red-hot après-ski scene, this mountain resort in northern Sweden is the Aspen of Scandinavia.

There are more than 100 powdery ski runs, or you can navigate the slopes by snowmobile or dogsled: Explore Åre and Camp Åre are two top outfitters that can arrange tours. In the late evening, a lively crowd congregates over pints of Swedish Brekeriet beer at Hotel Fjällgården, where DJs keep the place thumping late into the night. If you are in the mood for a quiet evening, curl up with a mug of glogg at Gute Grill & Bar in the Tott Hotel.

A five-minute walk away, chef Markus Aujalays runs Fjällpuben, a cozy restaurant with a farmhouse feel that serves dishes like tender elk carpaccio with currants and pickled beets. For a true northern adventure, consider spending a night at Igloo Åre, where the beds are made of packed snow covered in plush sleeping bags and reindeer skins, and private guides lead early morning snowshoe hikes.

5. La Massana, Andorra

Two hours from Barcelona in Andorra’s northwest corner, this Catalonian ski resort has no deficiency of pistes and comfortable boards, customary stone eateries where delicate sheep and meat are cooked on an open flame grill. Winter exercises here in the Pyrenees, as in numerous European resort goals, focus on skiing and snowboarding. The primary resort, Vallnord, has 55 miles of runs going in height from 5,085 to 8,500 feet, while an unwinding absorb Caldea Thermal Bath and spa is a commendable nine-mile reroute away. The a la mode Palomé Hotel has a crackling chimney in the hall, ski lockers, and austere rooms with cowhide loveseats, delicate beds, and mountain views.

6. Vals, Switzerland

You don’t come to this tiny village in the Swiss Alps to ski. Instead of perfectly groomed pistes, you’ll find a wonderland for design buffs. Built from sparkling gray blocks of Vals quartzite, Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor’s austerely beautiful Therme Vals houses a warren of steamy hammams and flower-strewn pools. Last fall, the on-site hotel was rebranded as the 7132 Hotel, with furniture by Fritz Hansen and Eero Saarinen, a restaurant that serves dishes like Öra salmon with beets and spinach, and new rooftop suites designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

Do as the locals do and earn your fondue with a 45-minute hike from the hotel along farm roads to Restaurant Ganni, an 18th-century timber mountain lodge. After a pot of silky cheese spiked with ginger, porcini, or traditional kirsch, throw back a vieille prune (cask-aged plum brandy) digestif to fortify you for the walk back down.

7. Courchevel, France

When Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH decided to give the hotel business a try with the ultra-luxe Cheval Blanc Courchevel, he set his sights on Courchevel’s most glamorous zip code, Le Jardin Alpin. Its north-facing slopes are among the best, its network of ski lifts the most efficient, and its habitués the most monied in all of Europe.

With Arnault’s imprimatur and designer Sybille de Margerie’s bright, futuristic interiors, the property was a big-enough deal to lure chef Yannick Alléno from Paris’s Michelin three-starred Le Meurice to open Le 1947, where traditional French dishes get a modern spin.

Just up the mountain, L’Apogée Courchevel bears the dual stamp of Parisian designers India Mahdavi and Joseph Dirand. The 53 timbered rooms and suites are surprisingly casual, decorated in a burgundy, green, and gingham palette, while the two chalets have log fires, perfect for curling up beside after a long day on the mountain.

8. Sagres, Portugal

Surfers and golfers descend on this sun-kissed town teetering off the southwestern tip of the Algarve. (Its many golf courses include the 18-hole Boavista, designed by Howard Swan, and Espiche, located in an ecological preserve.) But the architectural highlight is Martinhal Beach Resort & Hotel’s timber-wrapped cubist blocks overlooking the Atlantic, whose massive winter swells are wildly popular with surfers and storm watchers. Interiors feature Vitra chairs and Noguchi bamboo lamps, while also paying tribute to the region with local materials like cork and woven Algarve reeds. The result is an upmarket-bohemian beach vibe.